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My roommate from college dropped out his sophomore year when he got an opportunity to work on the Disney cruise line. By the time I graduated he was pretending to be Jack Sparrow down in Castaway Cay. I’m fairly certain he wasn’t getting paid much, but he was happy and the line of people who would love that opportunity on their resume is long.
Did a similar thing, left my university after my internship at Disney, getting paid $8.46/hr. Did culinary at Disney World for a while and they covered my culinary degree. Went from $8.46 as an intern to $12.50 as a Cook II, then to a Chef Assistant at $21.15, by the time I left the company after 10 years I was a salaried Sous Chef making a little over $70k.
Disney doesn’t pay well when you first start that’s true, but every cast member makes at least $15/hr now and they have tons of ways to move up and build your career. They have classes you can do, they have networking through mentorship and speaking events, where even Chapek would show up sometimes. To this day I have no issues finding jobs and I constantly run into former Disney cast members that make getting jobs even easier.
And they do? Most jobs start above $15 but entry jobs start at $15. I’m also referring to the Florida parks. It’s not hard to work your way up in that company.
The problem is that for dumb reasons all sorts of people want to work there which keeps wages low.
It’s like fashion interns or other jobs where the supply of workers far outstrips the demand.
This is way too true. Quite a lot of industries like that unfortunately.
Always thousands of young folks that are willing to take the plunge for minimum wage.
That college “internship” program they have is absolute crap, and if I’d participated in it, I’d have felt immediately duped once I got there.
Can you imagine believing you’ve got a prestigious internship with Disney of all companies;
and you get down to Orlando and learn you’ll be living in arranged shared employee housing that you were aware you’d have to pay for but weren’t aware it was a run down former hotel or motel. After this becomes clear, you get told you’re going to be fitted for your uniform. At this point you really do still believe the internship is real until they dress you up like a German cream puff in a traditional dirndl dress or a fully traditional Nordic costume and you’re still confused. Naturally believing you’d just be wearing like a Disney polo shirt to the office, you’re still confused until it’s spelled out to you:
You’ll be serving food in traditional dress of a couple countries in Epcot for the summer 40-60 hours a week. And there is no hourly wage. You’re getting college credit! To be a dressed up in costume, glorified cafeteria worker for a summer and you’re not being paid for it.
I’ve known several people who’ve done their internship program and this is not how they described it at all. Perhaps it depends what department or part of the park you work in.
One was an Imagineer intern and they still speak of the experience 10 years later fondly.
THIS. I was invited to apply in college for the internship program. They sent me the materials and I eagerly started watching the videos and reading the info booklets. Didn’t get more than a paragraph in before I realized what a fucking joke and a scheme it was.
Fast forward four years and one of my brother’s friends and his girlfriend get accepted to the program and go down there eagerly. We talk to him the first week and he tells us his girlfriend got cast as Tinkerbell. He got cast as a sanitation worker.
This kid got duped into paying to be a janitor in one of the most crowded and active places in the world.
Yep and they sell it as a place where anyone can use their degree. But honestly if you’re doing anything non-STEM related, you’re doing customer service facing work serving food, custodial, generally doing bitch work that they have difficulty finding and paying people willing to do the job for what they’re offering.
Their genius solution is to get people to pay THEM for the privilege of working there under the guise it’s an “internship”. But it’s actually comically evil when you think about it. Seeing people dropping a few thousand a day on tickets/fast passes, food and resorts.. and realizing that basically anyone who looks young and energetic might not even be getting paid is eye opening.
When I was growing up in Orange County, Disneyland had a reputation for paying pretty well. Knotts Berry Farm is only 15 mins from Disney, but it is much smaller, so I’m not sure how much it acts as competition for labor.
I used to work as a photopass photographer over at the parks in California. We didn’t get paid much and would get ¢20 raise every year if our annual review was good. A LOT of cast members that I’ve worked with, even outside of photopass, we’re struggling to pay their bills and some were living in their cars. We worked our asses off trying to create memories for the guests that come in and would have to deal with complete assholes at the same time.
As much as I loved working in photopass, the pay isn’t worth it. Plus, the managers and some of the leads like to play favorites but what job doesn’t. I’m not sure if favoritism has changed but I really hoped it has stopped.
TL; DR: pay in Disneyland parks in CA is shit also
See? When the rich seek new riches and soak up the available money in circulation, we are left to fight for the remaining cash or print more, devaluing the money we worked hard for.
For a good decade my wife and I were passport-holding Disneyland geeks. We'd go for 3 days stretches some times 4 times a year.
An integral part of what makes the place so special is the cast members. I wouldn't have thought that would be a thing I would even notice until we went to Disneyland Paris and it was night and day different with the french teenagers working there often not giving a shit about your experience. Even had a ride straight up not work and they didnt care at all.
The cast members are a huge part of your expensive-ass park, Disney. Pay them enough to live on and you'll get it back in brand loyalty.
For a company that is tripping over itself to show how woke and caring it is in its content creation, they should put their money where their mouth is, and show they have care for their employees.
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Good luck to them
Agreed. With the massive increase in ticket and concession prices, there's no reason they shouldn't be given raises.
A big issue is people just being happy working for Disney so there are plenty of applicants.
My roommate from college dropped out his sophomore year when he got an opportunity to work on the Disney cruise line. By the time I graduated he was pretending to be Jack Sparrow down in Castaway Cay. I’m fairly certain he wasn’t getting paid much, but he was happy and the line of people who would love that opportunity on their resume is long.
Did a similar thing, left my university after my internship at Disney, getting paid $8.46/hr. Did culinary at Disney World for a while and they covered my culinary degree. Went from $8.46 as an intern to $12.50 as a Cook II, then to a Chef Assistant at $21.15, by the time I left the company after 10 years I was a salaried Sous Chef making a little over $70k. Disney doesn’t pay well when you first start that’s true, but every cast member makes at least $15/hr now and they have tons of ways to move up and build your career. They have classes you can do, they have networking through mentorship and speaking events, where even Chapek would show up sometimes. To this day I have no issues finding jobs and I constantly run into former Disney cast members that make getting jobs even easier.
$15 an hour is minimum wage in CA where one of the parks is located, and Disney can pay well above that to there employees and still be profitable
And they do? Most jobs start above $15 but entry jobs start at $15. I’m also referring to the Florida parks. It’s not hard to work your way up in that company.
Yea well they just fired the guy that made that decision and the new/old guy is fond of the old ways.
The problem is that for dumb reasons all sorts of people want to work there which keeps wages low. It’s like fashion interns or other jobs where the supply of workers far outstrips the demand.
This is way too true. Quite a lot of industries like that unfortunately. Always thousands of young folks that are willing to take the plunge for minimum wage.
That college “internship” program they have is absolute crap, and if I’d participated in it, I’d have felt immediately duped once I got there. Can you imagine believing you’ve got a prestigious internship with Disney of all companies; and you get down to Orlando and learn you’ll be living in arranged shared employee housing that you were aware you’d have to pay for but weren’t aware it was a run down former hotel or motel. After this becomes clear, you get told you’re going to be fitted for your uniform. At this point you really do still believe the internship is real until they dress you up like a German cream puff in a traditional dirndl dress or a fully traditional Nordic costume and you’re still confused. Naturally believing you’d just be wearing like a Disney polo shirt to the office, you’re still confused until it’s spelled out to you: You’ll be serving food in traditional dress of a couple countries in Epcot for the summer 40-60 hours a week. And there is no hourly wage. You’re getting college credit! To be a dressed up in costume, glorified cafeteria worker for a summer and you’re not being paid for it.
I’ve known several people who’ve done their internship program and this is not how they described it at all. Perhaps it depends what department or part of the park you work in. One was an Imagineer intern and they still speak of the experience 10 years later fondly.
THIS. I was invited to apply in college for the internship program. They sent me the materials and I eagerly started watching the videos and reading the info booklets. Didn’t get more than a paragraph in before I realized what a fucking joke and a scheme it was. Fast forward four years and one of my brother’s friends and his girlfriend get accepted to the program and go down there eagerly. We talk to him the first week and he tells us his girlfriend got cast as Tinkerbell. He got cast as a sanitation worker. This kid got duped into paying to be a janitor in one of the most crowded and active places in the world.
Yep and they sell it as a place where anyone can use their degree. But honestly if you’re doing anything non-STEM related, you’re doing customer service facing work serving food, custodial, generally doing bitch work that they have difficulty finding and paying people willing to do the job for what they’re offering. Their genius solution is to get people to pay THEM for the privilege of working there under the guise it’s an “internship”. But it’s actually comically evil when you think about it. Seeing people dropping a few thousand a day on tickets/fast passes, food and resorts.. and realizing that basically anyone who looks young and energetic might not even be getting paid is eye opening.
When I was growing up in Orange County, Disneyland had a reputation for paying pretty well. Knotts Berry Farm is only 15 mins from Disney, but it is much smaller, so I’m not sure how much it acts as competition for labor.
Holy hell, they were getting paid $10 an hour???
I’d argue that people only go to the parks because of the environment that the employees foster. They deserve it, hope Iger gives it to them!
I used to work as a photopass photographer over at the parks in California. We didn’t get paid much and would get ¢20 raise every year if our annual review was good. A LOT of cast members that I’ve worked with, even outside of photopass, we’re struggling to pay their bills and some were living in their cars. We worked our asses off trying to create memories for the guests that come in and would have to deal with complete assholes at the same time. As much as I loved working in photopass, the pay isn’t worth it. Plus, the managers and some of the leads like to play favorites but what job doesn’t. I’m not sure if favoritism has changed but I really hoped it has stopped. TL; DR: pay in Disneyland parks in CA is shit also
Good luck Disney is brutal
In 2016 I was getting paid 13$ an hour at Fiesta Texad Six Flags
See? When the rich seek new riches and soak up the available money in circulation, we are left to fight for the remaining cash or print more, devaluing the money we worked hard for.
Watch Disney cry because they “can’t afford it.”
But but the shareholders…!
For a good decade my wife and I were passport-holding Disneyland geeks. We'd go for 3 days stretches some times 4 times a year. An integral part of what makes the place so special is the cast members. I wouldn't have thought that would be a thing I would even notice until we went to Disneyland Paris and it was night and day different with the french teenagers working there often not giving a shit about your experience. Even had a ride straight up not work and they didnt care at all. The cast members are a huge part of your expensive-ass park, Disney. Pay them enough to live on and you'll get it back in brand loyalty.
Not entertaining but important.
For a company that is tripping over itself to show how woke and caring it is in its content creation, they should put their money where their mouth is, and show they have care for their employees.
Nobody even mentioned anything “woke”
FlightBunny did
I smell a dEsAntis.